Karen Whiddon – Texas Secrets, Lovers' Lies (страница 8)

That made sense. Zoe looked once more for Brock, unable to find him in the crowd. He had to be lying. Because the Shayna she’d known all her life was giving and generous, happy and carefree. And she didn’t tell her best friend outright lies or keep secrets.

“Wow. What’d you do to set him off?” Cristine appeared again, right behind Zoe, as though she’d been watching and waiting for the opportunity. “Then again, it doesn’t take much these days.”

Trying not to show her irritation, Zoe shrugged. “I have no idea. I simply asked him something about Shayna.”

A shadow crossed Cristine’s face. “Oh. That would do it. He and Shayna weren’t getting along at all.”

Debating, Zoe decided against asking Cristine if Shayna had told her she and Brock were engaged. In view of Brock’s denial, and Mama Bell’s shock, that particular bit of information could wait.

“You and Shayna were good friends?” Zoe asked.

Cristine’s sallow complexion lit up. “Best friends,” she emphasized. “We ran around together every single weekend.”

Zoe cocked her head. “What did you two do?”

Cristine’s smile widened proudly. “Party. Though I tried to keep up with her, Shayna could drink me under the table.”

“Oh.” Zoe wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “So do you have any idea what might have happened to her?”

“Zoe, Shayna was worried.” Cristine looked around, her furtive behavior making Zoe tense up. “You might as well know that we—she and I—experimented a little with drugs.”

At Zoe’s dismayed expression, Cristine shook her head. “Oh, nothing serious. A little X, some weed, the occasional hit of crank.”

Nothing serious? While Zoe was still trying to process this, Cristine took her arm. “She was worried about something, but she wouldn’t tell me much more than that.”

Damn. Zoe’s heart skipped a beat. Yet again, the last conversation she’d had with Shayna replayed in her mind. She should have listened, should have done something. Maybe if she had, Shayna would still be here.

Guilt flooded her. Then, as blood rushed to her head, she inhaled deeply, trying to catch her breath.

“Zoe?” Cristine leaned in, peering at Zoe’s face. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. No,” Zoe said, taking a deep breath. “Cristine, what’s the deal with the sheriff’s office? Mama Bell says they’re not exactly helping to find her.”

Cristine grabbed her arm. “They say since Shayna’s an adult and has been talking about leaving town, she probably just took off. They won’t take us seriously.” She sounded bitter.

Zoe shook her off. “Why the hell not? Shayna is missing. How can they dispute that?”

“According to them, an adult has the right to go anywhere they want without telling anyone where they went. Without evidence of foul play...” For a second time Cristine looked around, lowering her voice. “Part of it might be that Shayna was seeing Roger Giles, the new sheriff.”

Dumbfounded, Zoe narrowed her eyes. “Recently?”

“Yes.”

Oh jeez, this really didn’t sound like the Shayna Zoe knew. “You’re telling me she was seeing someone behind Brock’s back. Was this before or after they broke up?”

“Who knows?” Cristine gave a brittle laugh. “Honey, Shayna was seeing lots of people behind Brock’s back.”

“Brock told me they’d become like roommates.”

“Okay.” Cristine gave a short bark of laughter. “But she was still living there. I told her to wait until she moved out. For Brock, I think it was a slap in the face.”

Gut twisting, Zoe nodded. “So you’re telling me Shayna was...cheating?” She could scarcely say the word. The Shayna she knew despised both liars and cheaters.

“No, not cheating. Shayna wasn’t exclusive with anyone. She made that clear up front. Roger Giles was aware he wasn’t the only one. Brock knew it, too, though he wasn’t too happy about it.”

Zoe had to give Cristine credit for sticking by her friend. In fact, Cristine actually managed to sound indignant.

“What about Brock?” Zoe asked. “You say he knew she wasn’t exclusive, but was he aware of all this?”

Cristine shrugged. “It wasn’t that way in the beginning. The two of them tried, they really tried. All I know is Shayna was pretty devastated when she and Brock didn’t work out. At first, I think she started fooling around trying to make him jealous.” She shrugged. “Or maybe she was getting even. Who knows?”

Zoe didn’t know what to say.

Again, Cristine leaned closer. “Think whatever you want to about her, but I can tell you this much. Shayna sure knew how to live life to the fullest. She and I had a lot of good times together.” Wiping a tear from her eye, she looked away. “That’s why I don’t believe she left willingly. She has to be in trouble. Otherwise, she would have let me know. We were best friends.”

So were we, Zoe added silently. Once. Only now she was finding out she really didn’t know Shayna at all. The woman she thought she knew was turning out to be a remnant of the past.

Scary thought. Just like with Mama Bell, Shayna had shut Zoe completely out of the truth about her life.

Drugs. Alcohol. Sex with random men.

Zoe’s mother had been a party girl. Zoe could only hope Shayna hadn’t gotten mixed up with the same type of people. After all, that was the reason Zoe’s mother had ended up dead, with her killer in prison.

Zoe made a mental note to check online later and make sure nothing had changed. The last time he’d come up before the parole board, he’d been denied.

Meanwhile, Cristine watched her like a hawk. A concerned, slightly ditzy hawk, but closely nonetheless.

“I’m still going to talk to the police,” Zoe repeated. “Now, please excuse me.”

Cristine stared and then nodded. “Let me come with you.”

Glancing around the crowded room full of people she should recognize but didn’t, Zoe shook her head. “Thank you, but that’s not necessary. You’ve got plenty to occupy you here. I’ll handle this on my own.”

Cristine dipped her chin, swallowing hard. “But you are signing up to help search, right?”

“Of course.” Zoe forced a smile and gestured to the line at the sign-up table. “Judging from the size of this turnout, you should have a ton of people show up tomorrow to assist.”

Cristine bit her lip. “About that. Will you help me organize it?” she blurted. “I want Shayna found, and no one else besides you and Mrs. Bell is taking her disappearance seriously.”

Surprised, Zoe considered. What Cristine said made sense. Still, until she got a better feel for things, Zoe preferred to go it on her own. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “It looks to me like you have everything pretty much under control.”

Then, before Cristine could say anything else, Zoe turned and hurried away.

Rushing outside, she nearly ran into Brock. Immediately, she felt a tingle of excitement low in her belly, which she ignored.

“Leaving already?” he asked, blocking her way and making no effort to move.

She tried to catch her breath, nodded and kept her expression impassive. It wouldn’t be a good thing if Brock learned how her body still reacted to him. “I thought I’d head over to the police station and see if I can light a fire under them.”

“Good idea.” He fell into step beside her. “It’s a short walk. Do you mind if I go with you?”

Would wonders never cease? Suddenly everyone wanted to go with her to the police department. First Cristine, and now Brock. She had to wonder if ulterior motives might be involved.

Glancing at Brock, his ruggedly handsome profile strong and rigid, his massive shoulders stretching the cotton of his button-down shirt, Zoe again quelled her inner quivering. She tried to be objective—as if they hadn’t shared a past—and debated asking him if he knew about Shayna and the sheriff. In the end, she decided against it. She wasn’t yet positive it was the truth.

“If you want,” she answered, turning away, unable to keep looking at him, hating how badly that hurt. “Though judging how you’ve been acting since I got here, I can’t help but wonder why you’d want to go anywhere with me.”

He touched her shoulder, making her jump and face him. From his expression, he wasn’t too happy about her statement.

Tough. She’d only spoken the truth.

“Look, Zoe,” he began, his husky, Southern-accented voice both familiar and exotic. “Though I’m of the opinion Shayna took off with some guy for an extended vacation, I still want her found. Just because we weren’t getting along doesn’t mean I’m not worried about her.”

Interesting. Now she definitely had to wonder what he was hiding. And he was hiding something, of that she had no doubt. “I’m glad to hear you say that,” she said, deciding to test his veracity. “The way I see it, we’re going to have to put our differences aside so we can work together. Don’t you agree?”

His face revealed his surprise, and he slowly nodded. Of course, he had no idea that the look in his eyes plainly communicated the opposite. Work together? He might as well have given her a hell, no. At least that would have been truthful.

“I have to admit I could use your help sometimes,” she continued, again speaking only the truth. “I’m getting too many conflicting stories.”

He gave a heavy sigh. “I have a feeling I know what you mean.”

“Do you?” Now would be the perfect time to find out his version of the truth. “What exactly happened between you and Shayna?”